The Doctor and I
by writeandwriteandwriteandprint
Summary: The Doctor meets a fierce 13 year old, for whom no is not an option.
1. The Blue Telephone Box

_Once Upon a time there was a man who travelled the world. One day that man met a girl. She was small, she was funny, but she was scared. This is the story of that girl._

I started running, as hard as I could. They were right behind me, but my slight frame gave me then edge. Then I saw it. The perfect place to hide. A blue telephone box! I sprinted and dived in. Shutting the door and breathing heavily. Something was wrong though. I turned around slowly. My worst suspicions were confirmed. This was no Telephone Box. It was, it was huge. And surprisingly bright. I blinked slowly. Then shrugged, this was beyond cool.

I walked up onto the glass floor. It was so cool! There was a huge control thing in the middle, and I had to suppress an urge to press every button. _Who knows what it might do? _I thought. Shame, it would've been fun. Looking around though I couldn't see anyone. So maybe, just one little button. Or a big one. Or a lever. Or a whatever. Despite my promise to be good my hand stretched out.

"Hello?"

I turn around, look everywhere, but no sign of the mystery voice. Hmm. Strange.

"I underneath you." I look down through the glass floor and see a strange man looking up at me. He was wearing a tweed jacket and a bow tie, and had messy black hair. He was holding a weird stick thing. He pointed it at me and it glowed briefly green.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm The Doctor." He smiled. "Who are you?"  
He ran up the stairs towards me and extends his hand. I shake it.

"May. Just May. And I don't mean to be rude, but your Telephone Box, well it isn't a Telephone Box."

The man stiffened and looked at me. "That is because it doesn't pretend to be a Telephone Box." He said, his eyes narrowed.

"I know it's the wrong colour and everything..."

He interrupted, "It pretends to be a Police Box, but it's really a..."

It was my turn to interrupt, "What's a Police Box?"

He looked shocked, "You mean, you don't know?"

I shake my head, "Uh double Uh. No idea. I mean, it's 2012."

The man sighed, "As I was saying, it's really a TARDIS. Short for Time and relative dimension in space. Happy?"

"Uh double Uh. Why is it big?"

He blinked, "Your not shocked?"  
"No just curious, why is it so big?"

The Doctor shook his head, "It's to complicated. Now if you don't mind, would you mind leaving?"

I narrow my eyes, "The N to the O. No way. I am not leaving so soon."

The Doctors eyes widen, and he reaches out for my arm, "May." He warns.

I duck and dive towards the console, gripping it tightly. "Make me." I whisper, "This is the most amazing thing I have seen in my life Doctor!"

He reaches at me again, and I step back, but there is nothing to step back to. My elbow pushes a lever back. The Doctor and I both look at it in shock. The Tardis started to rattle.

"Oh No," We both breathe.


	2. The Crash

In the explosion that followed I am thrown to floor. Winded I at first don't hear the Doctor yelling. At me. Oh No.

"What?" I yell back.

"Why did you push that lever, it said don't push! Why!"

"It was an accident!" I yell back as he struggles to his feet. He grips the console tightly and runs around it. Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulls out the metal stick he used before. He spins it around, a whirring sound coming out of it, and the green laser darting around the console.

"Irreversible." He mutters, "Damn." He turns to me again, his yes are more gentle, "Hold tight. We're about to land."

He dives to the floor, bringing his hands over his head. I mirror him, hoping that this will help me.

With a final crash the Tardis juddered to a halt. My nose hits the floor incredibly hard, and I wince. The Doctor kneels down next to me and helps me to my feet,

"What just happened?" I ask.

The Doctor sighs and pushes a hand through his messy hair.

"I think we just crashed." he replies.


	3. The Trap!

Together we walk over to the door.

"Ready?" He asks, I nod, my chest tight with excitement. He smiles at me, but his smile is worried. We take half of the door each and push.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. It's the street I just left. Exactly the same. I look at the Doctor and frown.

"Well, thanks for the anti-climax mate. Really useful. Loved it. I thought when I saw you it would be exciting, but Noooo." I fold my arms, extending the last syllable. "Instead of adventure, or excitement, I get stuck with a bruised nose and my Mum yelling at me for being late. Wow. Amazing."

I take it out on him for the sadness I feel. When I entered the Tardis I seriously thought that, that I don't know. That I would see something, even if it was just how to work the machine. And this seems so, dull. I angrily wipe away I few tears. I doubt that he heard me. He's taken out his metal stick and is waving it around again. What a loon.

"I'm going home." I mutter. I step out the Tardis and walk away.

"May! No! Get back here!" He yells, his voice filled with fear and worry. I smile a little, nice to know he cares.

Then the sirens go off. I look around, suddenly terrified. Everywhere armed people appear. In every door, every window. They are wearing whit boiler suits and there faces are hidden by black netting. They approach swiftly, surrounding me.

"May!" I hear the Doctor yell, "They can't enter The Tardis. It isn't part of their programming! Get in here!"

At first I dither, my legs frozen with fear. Then I sprint. Years of running away from bullies has made me fast. I reach out towards the Doctor, feeling his fingers brush against mine. _I've made it! _I think. But I celebrate to early. One of, of _Them, _grabs me and pulls me back. I scream and kick, but I am hurled onto the floor. Two grab my arms, and after I kick one where _it's _mouth should be two grab my legs.

"Doctor!" I scream, my voice hoarse with fear, "Doctor!"

"May!" He replies, "I can't help you if I step out! I'll be there soon. May, this is important, don't..."

But whatever I am not allowed to do is lost to be, as I am thrown into a cage in the back of a car. The boot slams shut with a definite click. Alone in the darkness, I want to scream.

_Help me Doctor. _I think to myself, wiping away tears with the back of my hand, _Help me now. _


	4. The Black Doors

After both emotionally and physically exhausting ride we arrive at our destination. I think. Two of the net men as I call them pull me roughly out of the car. They seize both my arms and literally drag me along. My knee's protest at being abused so badly, but I feel so sick with terror that I don't care.

We enter a long corridor, that reminds me of hospitals. As I get dragged along, I try to think of what the Doctors last words were. _Don't... _Don't what? Don't get yourself killed? Don't worry? Don't fart? The possibilities are endless. I realise after a while that we are approaching a large black door. I don't know why but as we draw nearer I start to feel faint. I do not want to go through those doors.

I start to struggle. Instead of a limp bundle, I am a kicking screaming mass of fear and hate. In my mind it is clear. **Black Door = Certain Death/Suffering. ** I lash out, I kick up. I yell for help. As we come inevitably closer to the door the yell turn into one word. _Help. _But no amount of screaming is going to get me away. I take a deep breath. In order to escape I must lay calm. And I must not show fear. Fear = No. Anger = Yes.

I close my eyes.

We walk through the door.

Inside is a huge, spacious room. The walls are made of polished steel and the floor is a type of gray plastic. At the far end, with her back turned to us, is a woman. She turns around, and I gasp.

She is beautiful. She has long silky back hair that falls over her shoulder in a plat, and olive skin. Her eyes are a type of dusky green, with perfect white teeth. She is wearing a tight leather suit, that shows off her figure, and black boots up to her knees. Around her waist is a belt and sword, safely in it's sheath. I stare. I have always hated beauty, never having it myself. With my short brown hair, blue eyes and so small that I could be ten, beauty is a thing of people with something to hide.

"May Gardener!" The woman smiles, coming closer, "How wonderful that you could join us!"

"Who are you?" I ask, as hostilely as I can muster, "Let me go. Immediately."

The woman nods and signals with her hand. I am dropped to the floor, a surprisingly painful procedure. The woman smiles again at my discomfort, "And as for my name, why, I am Madame Lefote. Pronounced Le-foh. I am most glad you can join us."

"Why am I here?" I reply.

Madame Lefote raises one eyebrow, "Why so many questions! The Doctor, you and him are close friends I presume?"

"No." I shake my head, "I met him today. Let me go."

In a flash the woman arm extends and hits me around the face. I stumble with the sheer force.

"Do not lie to me May." She hisses, her face contorting with anger.

"It's the truth!" I protest, but she hits me on the other side of my face with the back of her hand. This is to much. I look up and spit in her face.

Silence.

Madame Lefote looks at me woth such hatred as I have never seen.

"You are going to regret that May Gardener." She hisses, wiping her face slowly and deliberately, "Take her to Room 101. Immediately."

And she strides off.


	5. Inside Room 101

Once again I am roughly dragged down a corridor, but this time I am determined to hold my head high. Instead of the girl that may as well of been a doll, I am determined and confident. I will not scream, I will not shout. I will be strong and proud.

As if.

In reality, I struggle. I fight like a demon, kicking and biting. It makes no difference. The Net Men keep on walking. They take me to another room. It also has a black door. Oh hahahahahaha, Look at that ecstatic grin on my face. This room is the same as the last room, but a lot smaller. And in one wall there is a glass window, with lots of Net Men inside. It's labelled Observation Room.

I am strapped to a (what other colour) black chair. And by strapped I mean strapped. My head is fastened back, my arms are shackled to the arm rests. My legs are tied together and and tied to the chair. A machine is taking my pulse. It is unnaturally fast. As the net men tie a rope around my torso, another Net Man is attaching another machine to my head. I am wondering what it is when a voice comes over the intercom.

"May Gardener," It is Madame Lefote. Her voice sounds like silk. "I want to make it clear what is happening to you. It makes the wait so much more." There is a long pause, "Agonizing." Madame Lefote savours the word. "In exactly five minutes our special experiments are going to come through that door. And you know what?" A pause, "They are going to be trained on you. You see, we thought about killing you, which would be fun, but then we had a bright idea. How about we use you as training for our new species! Isn't that a good idea! The checks you are going through now will mean that in a few minutes we will know everything about how it feels to be prey to the Species. Have a nice time May!" There is a laugh, not an evil cackle, more as if her boyfriend had told her the funniest joke in the world. It is happy, it is pretty, and I am terrified of it.

There is only one thought pounding around my head.

_Escape_

_Escape_

_**Escape**_

_**ESCAPE!**_


	6. The Countdown

I am released from my chair just as the countdown begins. I leap up and race after the fast receding Net Men. I grab one and pull him back. They will not sacrifice a friend surely, to get at me? But that seems to be a lie. The door slams and locks with a desperate finality. And the Net Man and I are alone together.

_Five seconds. _I freeze, listening to the recorded voice. I fling myself at the glass window, "Help!" I scream, they ignore me.

_Four seconds. _I run up to the Net Man. "Look," I say urgently.

_Three seconds._ "If we work together we can escape, and we won't

_Two seconds. _Die See, good plan."

_One seconds. _A suspicion makes me want to try something. The Net Man is standing completely still, and I see no sign of fear. "Who are you?" I whisper and reach up to lift up the net.

That second goes amazingly slowly. Everything seems to happen at once.

I hear a wheezing sound as the Tardis lands behind me.

I hear the Doctor yelling at me.

I make out he is yelling no.

I lift up the net.

And I'm not sure what happens next.


	7. May's Notes

**13.10.12**

_My name is May Gardener._

_I am fourteen years old._

_I can not remember anything that happened three months before my fourteenth birthday._

_I am at a hospital._

_I don't know where. _

_I do know why._

_In the forgotten three months something big happened. _

_I am the only known survivor of it._

_I inflicted it on myself. _

_I don't know how._

_My Doctor told me to write down what I know._

_The hospital is run by U.N.I.T._

_I don't know what that means._

_At night I dream of a blue telephone box._

_My Doctor said he'd explain it later._

_I have bad dreams._

_I don't know anything else._

**14.10.12**

_My name is May Gardener._

_I am fourteen years old._

_I can not remember anything that happened three months before my fourteenth birthday._

_I am at a hospital._

_I don't know where. _

_I do know why._

_In the forgotten three months something big happened. _

_I am the only known survivor of it._

_I inflicted it on myself. _

_I don't know how._

_My Doctor told me to write down what I know._

_The hospital is run by U.N.I.T._

_I don't know what that means._

_At night I dream of a blue telephone box._

_My Doctor said he'd explain it later._

_I have bad dreams._

_I don't know anything else._

**15.10.12**

_My name is May Gardener._

_I am fourteen years old._

_I can not remember anything that happened three months before my fourteenth birthday._

_I am at a hospital._

_I don't know where. _

_I do know why._

_In the forgotten three months something big happened. _

_I am the only known survivor of it._

_I inflicted it on myself. _

_I don't know how._

_My Doctor told me to write down what I know._

_The hospital is run by U.N.I.T._

_I don't know what that means._

_At night I dream of a blue telephone box._

_My Doctor said he'd explain it later._

_I have bad dreams._

_I don't know anything else._

**16.10.12**

_My name is May Gardener._

_I am fourteen years old._

_I can not remember anything that happened three months before my fourteenth birthday._

_I am at a hospital._

_I don't know where. _

_I do know why._

_In the forgotten three months something big happened. _

_I am the only known survivor of it._

_I inflicted it on myself. _

_I don't know how._

_My Doctor told me to write down what I know._

_The hospital is run by U.N.I.T._

_I don't know what that means._

_At night I dream of a blue telephone box._

_My Doctor said he'd explain it later._

_I have bad dreams._

_I don't know anything else._

**17.10.12**

_My name is May Gardener._

_I am fourteen years old._

_I can not remember anything that happened three months before my fourteenth birthday._

_I am at a hospital._

_I don't know where. _

_I do know why._

_In the forgotten three months something big happened. _

_I am the only known survivor of it._

_I inflicted it on myself. _

_I don't know how._

_My Doctor told me to write down what I know._

_The hospital is run by U.N.I.T._

_I don't know what that means._

_At night I dream of a blue telephone box._

_My Doctor said he'd explain it later._

_I have bad dreams._

_I don't know anything else._

**18.10.12**

_**My name is May Gardener.**_

_**Today my doctor said that I am going to have a visitor.**_

_**He said that his name is The Doctor. **_


	8. A Visitor

I look up from my notes. My doctor says that I have to write them everyday, to see if I remember something new. Today I only write a bit before someone enters. It's a man. He has scruffy brown hair and tired, sad green eyes. But it's his suit I find strange. He is wearing a, what's the word, ah yes, Tweed Jacket and bow tie.

"Hello May," He says quietly.

"Are you my new Doctor?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I'm The Doctor May. I'm here to help you."

"I'm sorry," I say and I mean it, "It's just said, Doctor so I thought..."

The Doctor smiles, a small sad smile, "May Gardener. Do you remember anything from three months ago."

I frown, concentrating hard, "I. I. Don't know," my speech is slow and I find it hard to verbalise what I think. "A Blue. This might be a dream Doctor, but..."

"Carry on," He says gently.

"I think, a blue telephone box." I sigh and run a hand through my hair, "Told you it was stupid."

"You didn't every say it was stupid. But thank you May."

He stands up and turns to leave, but changes his mind. He turns around and takes one of my hands in both of his.

"May," he says in the same gentle voice, "Look at me May."

I look into his sad eyes, "May," He repeats, his voice strong, "I swear to God, that I will make them pay for what they have done to you. I swear on Uh double Uh."

Then he turns and leaves, and I wonder about what I have done.

Uh double Uh rings a bell. I wonder who said it.


	9. My Day and my Dreams

As the doctors wheel me back along the sterile corridor, I think about the strange man. He knew my name, but that's hardly surprising. And it's how he reacted when he left. What had who done to me? The get lain on the bed and the nurses pull the curtains around me, before taking my pulse and a sample of my blood.

"Why am I here?" I ask, the nurse looks surprised, "I know that I nearly died, but what of? Was I hit by a car? Did I fall off a building? Why?"

The Nurse pulls down her mask and sighs, "I can't say May."

"But you do know?" I press on, "You know why I am here?"  
"Of course!" She smiles, "Everyone knows!" Then she gasps and covers her hands with her mouth, "Oh No," She breathes.

"I've been here for three months," I start to get angry, "I have a right to know. I have rights! In, in hospitals if a patient asks..."

"This hospital does not follow the standard protocol May," She sighs, "We know you have rights, but here and now, it's better if you don't know. We think the shock might kill you, you see? Happy now?"

She packs away her equipment and walks out, pulling the curtains as viciously as is possible.

I pretend to sleep for most of that day. It's a funny thing, when you pretend to sleep, sometimes you do. And I fell asleep. And that night I dreamed. It was weird, crazy and scary. The weird Doctor in the jacket was there, and my blue telephone box. And things to crazy to imagine. I wake up in a sweat, but I am excited to see what will happen.

After I have written that days notes, and had my tests, I fall asleep, and I dream. When I wake up I immediately write it down, and I show it to my Doctor. His eyes widen, and he stifles a gasp. I am confused, but then the penny drops and rolls away.

My dream is real. This is what happened to me three months ago.


	10. Answers at Last

The Doctors and nurses are all bustling around me. I am confused, I still don't know why I am here, my dream ended when I lifted up the net. But I don't show the Doctors this, instead I act as if I know exactly what's going on. And I send for the one man that can help me.

"I need the Doctor." I say. And they understand.

"We are trying to get in contact," They reassure me. But I will stop asking when I see him.

At around three in the afternoon, I get into my wheelchair, and I'm wheeled into the visitors room. And there, in the flesh, with his back to me, is The Doctor. He doesn't notice I'm in the room at first. The nurses tactfully leave us alone.

"Doctor?" I say, hesitantly. He turns around immediately and looks at me warily.

"I was summoned. I don't know why. I never respond to summons." He says, he is so different to the trustworthy, friendly man I have in my dream.

"Then why did you come Doctor?" I ask.

"They said the summons were from you." He breaks into a smile so small, and sad, and yet so comforting that I smile back.

"They say you remember. That you wrote it down and showed it to them. After three months you remember." His voice is so hopeful. I look around nervously before starting.

"Doctor, about that. I had a dream, and I wrote it down. And it turned out to be true. But I don't know anything. Tell me what happened after I lift up the net. Please."

The Doctor turns away, "I can't do that May,"  
"Tell me!" I yell, my voice unnaturally loud. He turns and looks at me, "You think I don't know!" I continue, "That I was in a coma for two months! That I was on life support! That I was nearly killed! They have kept everything from me! And look!" I have tears running down me cheeks, "I am wheeled everywhere like some god damned cripple! I have to have my pulse taken every two hours, and that's an improvement, I am under constant observation, in case I die!"

The door is flung open by two harassed looking nurses. "We heard shouting and yelling," One says. The other one grabs the handles of my wheelchair and pushes me towards the door, "I think you need a rest Miss May Gardener."  
"See!" I yell at him, "You think I don't deserve it! After everything! Doctor!"

The door is about to shut, but the Doctor puts his foot in it, his eyes tired and sad.

"Let me talk to her." He says quietly, but with such force that they both leave us. The Doctor goes to push me into the room, but I stop him.

"I can do it myself thanks," I say, my voice frosty.

"May," The Doctor says, "This is what happened after you took the Netting off."  
He walks to the other side of the room before he begins, "They're called Santroze. The Net Men. They are bred to kill, but Madame Lefote has changed them. Now, they are bred to for sheer terror. After you lift up the netting, their faces are indescribable. They will feed on everything that you fall back on in moments of fear, and eat it, until you are consumed by, by, this terror that you can not control. The lucky ones die there. But if you don't then they suck out all that terror, all at once. The shock is to much for anyone. And you die."  
He turns around and starts pacing, "But you didn't. The trap was set for me, but you walked into it. And then Madame Lefote thinks, brilliant, I will find out about this Doctor from his friend. But then she discovers that you know less than nothing."

He flashes a brief smile at me, "No offence intended, but feel free to express your indignation." He carries on pacing once it will become clear that I will not _express my indignation. _"So, then Madame Lefote thinks, fine, I will just use you as training for my mask men."  
"But," I frown, "Doctor this makes no sense. I made the Net Man stay, I..."  
The Doctor put a hand through his already messy hair, "They were working on the tendencies you have show before. Stubbornness, resilience, pure stupidity." He flashes another smile, "Those were compliments you know."

"It doesn't feel like it." I mutter. The Doctor ignores me and continues.

"So, everything goes according to plan, but you don't die. You nearly do, but you don't. And now Madame Lefote is interested in you. You have something in you that shouldn't be there. U.N.I.T has tried their hardest, but they can't find it. Madame Lefote has the only machine that we think might give us the answers."  
"What?" I say, my heart full of dread.

"Madame Lefote," The Doctor says slowly, "Madame Lefote has the soul extractor."


	11. The (skipped!) fight

The Doctor looks at my reaction. I can tell he is expecting my to scream, yell or at least gasp. I do neither.

"What does that do?" I ask.

"In simple terms," The Doctor smiles, "For simple people, it extracts your soul, takes out, removes, then examines it. If you are lucky she will give it back."  
"And if you're not?" I ask carefully.

The Doctors expressions sobers, "If you are not lucky," he says, "You will live your life as an empty husk, you will not love, care, you will be you, but with your personality, your hopes, your fears removed. This machine is worse than death. It is worse than The Net Men as you call them. You will live life as nothing, dull empty, incapable of empathy or emotion."  
I gulp, "That sounds terrible."  
The Doctor nods and turns away, "It is."  
I take a long deep breath, "That sounds terrible Doctor." I say, "But when you leave you are taking me with you. I got us into this mess, and I'm at least helping us get back out of it."  
The Doctor turned around and opened his mouth to protest, but I speak first.

"Lets just say we have had this argument, and I won it, right? Now go to my house, and fetch me my jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater. Be back here in two minutes." I glare at him, "Now go."

And even though he shouldn't be smiling, I see him suppress a grin.


	12. A Plan

Three minutes later I am sitting down on a chair in the Tardis, in my favourite jeans and sweater, trying to figure out a plan.

"Can we sneak in?" I ask.

"Nope, double nope," The Doctor sighs, "Been there, tried that."

"Hmm... Can we launch an attack?"

Again the Doctor sighs and shakes his head, "No can do. We would need U.N.I.T for that, and they're are going to be mighty ticked off when they realise I have abducted you." He bites his lip anxiously. I throw one of the six (six! WTF?) pairs of socks he brought me at him, "Get over it mate." I sigh. Think think think think, "You know what?"  
The Doctors face goes all hard and cross. He knows then. "No." he lies.

"Me and you, I'm going to have to be bait."  
The Doctor folds his arms.  
"No."

I fold my arms, "Yes."

The Doctor sighs, "What if you have your soul lifted, what if you are forced to lift up the net again. You might not survive it this time May."  
I get up and turn around, "So, we do nothing. Because this is our only option Doctor."  
I hear the Doctor pace for a minute or two.

"Fine." he finally says, "But on one condition, you have a tracker on you at all times."  
I turn around and smile, "Thanks Doctor," I say, although half of me wants him to change his mind.

The Doctor frowns, "Tracker first. Are you afraid of needles May?"


	13. Going, going, gone

The Doctors plan is simple, I am to be found unconscious outside the base. At first they'll be suspicious but then they will take me into the base. I will wake up, summon the Doctor, they surrender immediately, hopefully only a small fight.

"I hope that will work," The Doctor mutters.

Yeah, well, as an idea, it sucks. But it's either that or nothing.

I'm not to keen on the unconscious bit either. The Doctor wanted to knock me out with a hammer, and I'm not sure if he is joking or not. The actual idea is this drink, that will make me unconscious for ten minutes, before I wake up.

So that is why I am here on the perimeter of the base. The alarms will go off in thirty seconds. I am so scared.

"Here," the Doctor whispers, and he throws me a small bottle, filled with an electric green liquid. I down it, ignore the foul taste and I...

I...

hear the whoosh...

The whoosh...

Whooshing of the Tardis as it.

What does it do?

It goes.

I'm scared.

I'm scared.

I'm...


	14. Trapped

I wake with a jolt. Leaning over me is, the woman in my dreams.

In my past.

Madame Lefote smiles at me.  
"Beware Greeks bearing gifts they say," She smiles at me, "So we were wary of the parcel that was dropped off. But, make the best of a bad situation. We've removed your tracker by the way."  
The throbbing in my arm proves her to be correct.

"So, May," She smiles and continues, "I presume you know about the soul machine. If you don't do not bother, we will proceed anyway. So, May, do you know pain? You may think you do? What is the most painful thing that has happened to you? Breaking your leg, or an arm maybe? No, the Sould extractor takes the feelings from here," She tapped her heart, and smiled, "And I have been told it will be excruciating. So, will you scream, or moan? I prefer the ones that beg the best."

"Your insane," I whisper, "I'm fourteen, and you... You are..."  
She smiles, "Trying to get moral ground I see? Shocked? Your pale face gives you away my dear. So, you have a date, with the soul extractor."  
I turn away from her, but she grabs my cheeks and forces me to look at her, "Oh dear, scared, sad? After just ten minutes of agony, you won't have that any more my dear. Just your skin and brain." She smiles and winks, "Say goodbye to love May Gardener, the Soul extractor awaits!"


	15. Pain Threshold

Once again I am strapped to a bed, I can not move. The net men are fixing a machine over my heart, and I am scared.

"Please," I whisper, "Please don't."  
I hear the laugh of Madame Lefote comes over the intercom, "Oo, begging already!" She laughs, "And it hasn't started yet! Net Men out!"

They march obediently out.

"Don't do this to me," I whisper, almost crying.

Almost.

Madam Lefote smiles at me, "Oh dear May, there was me thinking you had a pain threshold."  
"I do," I hissed, "But you're about to walk through the pain door."  
Madame Lefote smiled and pressed the button.

"I'm knocking on the door," She whispered and smiled at me.

And then I felt the pain.


	16. Pain

What is your most painful memory? Breaking you leg? Well, okay, think about that painful memory, times it by one hundred, add three million, and you you might have a tiny fraction of what I was feeling just then. A very tiny fraction. This was made worse by the knowing of what would happen to me when it was over. But it didn't make the pain worthwhile. It made the pain, well painful.

Near my heart was this throbbing sensation, like a red hot poker was in my heart. My breath came in shuddery gasps, and I wondered whether I should hold my breath, to die seemed like the better option right now. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks, but I didn't try to hide them. She would know anyway. She would know that I was in agony. So why hide it?

After seven minutes of this torture I saw it. Above my heart a pulsating red glow, emerging out. My soul.

_No. _I yelled, but no sound came out, "No!" I yelled. And I felt angry. "That is mine! You can not take my soul!" I stand up, the bonds are weak, I never realised that before. I approach Madame Lefote who is cowering. From me? I look around. There is no-one else here. "You are afraid of me Madame Lefote?" I smile, I like this power. "What is wrong, my pain threshold to much for you? Welcome to my pain house!" I laugh, I am alive and glad.

"No," Madame Lefote whispers. "This, is... Impossible."  
Something is seriously wrong. I turn around. And then I see what is wrong. I feelafraid, and then I know it is wrong.

"Oh my..."  
Held in the claw of the soul extractor it throbs and glows. _My Soul. _


	17. What am I?

"You are not human," Madame Lefote whispers, "You are not human."  
I shake my head, "I feel, I can feel. But I can't feel."  
I turn around and Madame Lefote ducks as a glass smashes above her head.

"What have you done!" I shriek.

Madame Lefote's eyes are round with terror, "Your. Hands. They, I, no!"

I turn around and grip tightly onto a table. Another glass smashes above her head. "What. Do. You. Mean?" I snarl.

Madame Lefote gasps, "You didn't pick up the jars." She whispers, "The jars, the jars!"  
I turn around, "I, what. Are you mad?"  
She shakes her head, "Throw something at me. Look at your hands and throw something at me."  
I shake my head, "You are mad." I unbuckle the straps of the soul machine. They are tied up loosely. Then I stop.

"How did I get through these?" I whisper. Madame Lefote blinks silently. "I just sat up. I could've sworn they torn."  
The straps are untouched, I gasp. My knee's buckle and I collapse. A pillow from the observation room softens my fall. I just came flying towards me.

"But, this is impossible." I whisper, "What is wrong with me?"  
"Everything that is wrong with every soul in that chair."  
I turn around, and see the Doctors serious face. I run to him, try to reach him but he stops me.  
"You are not May Gardener any more." He looks at me a runs a hand through his hair, "You are not human. You think you are, but you are gradually losing the ability to think that you are. You were different. You were the only one who let their feelings be shown in the soul machine. And now..."  
I cough, bending over double with raspy coughs. I look up at him, "Now what Doctor?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Now," The Doctor pauses, "Now you are the soul machine."  
I bend over double with more coughs, and I kneel on the floor, digging my fingers in. I feel pain over my heart again.

"NO!" I yell, but my voice sounds odd, like it's underwater, "No!" I whisper, but this time it sounds more like a simulated voice, "My name is May Gardener." I try to breathe, but I can't. I scratch at my throat.

"Get out of my body," I rasp, "I will fight you!"  
I am thrown back onto the floor, my back arches up.

"No," I say smoothly and clearly, in the computer voice. "No!" I rasp again.

And then I fade.


	18. Once Upon A Time

_Once Upon a time, there was a girl. She was brave and funny and scared. And when the time came, she faced up to her fear. _

_Once Upon a time there was a machine that ate souls. And that girl faced up to it._

_Once Upon a time there was a hospital ward. In that ward was a girl. She tried to fight what she had become, and now she is stuck. They are keeping her alive. They have been keeping her alive for five years. _

_Once Upon a time that girl always has a visitor. Everyday a man in a tweed jacket comes in, sits by her hospital bed and holds her hand._

_Once Upon a time he always says two words, "I'm sorry."  
Then he leaves. He will always leave. And he will always wait until the girl will open her eyes and say one word._

"Doctor."


End file.
